Best PlacesSimpson County, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Simpson County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Simpson County ranks 2,571st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Simpson County
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Simpson County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Simpson County ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 85% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 82% of counties
- QuietBetter than 74% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 70% of counties
Where Simpson County ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 5% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 8% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 9% of counties
- Short commute32.0 minutes each way, better than only 9% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 11% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Simpson County
A household needs to earn about $34,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Simpson County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $57,164, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Simpson County's effective rate of 0.46%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Simpson County
Simpson County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Simpson County.
Who works in Simpson County, and how
Work in Simpson County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Simpson County
Simpson County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Simpson County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Simpson County growing, and who is moving in?
Simpson County has lost about 7% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Jackson, MS metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Simpson County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Simpson County, month by month
Simpson County sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 47° | 36° |
| April | 80° | 65° | 52° |
| July | 94° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 83° | 68° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Simpson County
The nearest airport, Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 135 miles away.
The best schools in and around Simpson County
Schools across Simpson County average a D+, better than 12% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Puckett Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Simpson Central SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Magee Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mendenhall Junior High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
- Magee Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Puckett Attendance CenterB− · 43% proficient
- Mendenhall High SchoolD · 19% proficient
- Magee High SchoolF · 7% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Simpson County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Simpson County measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Simpson County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Simpson County suits
Families
Schools land around the 12th percentile and crime safety beats 70%.
Common questions about living in Simpson County
Is Simpson County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Simpson County ranks 2,571st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a stable housing market, low property taxes, and tree cover, and lowest on state infrastructure and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Simpson County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $136,608. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $57,164 median income, cost of living beats 23% of counties.
Is Simpson County safe?
Yes, Simpson County is safer than 70% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $163 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Simpson County?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 36. That works out to about 77 pleasant days a year, more than 34% of counties.
Is Simpson County good for families?
Schools beat 12% of counties, crime safety beats 70%, and childcare runs $682 a month.
Compare Simpson County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Simpson County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Simpson County represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Simpson County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Simpson County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Simpson County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Simpson County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Simpson County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Simpson County detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.